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Box and frame making equipment

I know commercial beekeepers that make all their own equipment with a radial arm saw, a table saw and a jointer. I know the companies that make and sell thousands of boxes and frames use specialized equipment. Does anyone know how to get a hold of this type of machinery? Thanx.

Woodenware mfg.

Some of the saws and equipment are available commercially, others are specialized and often designed by the owner or operator. The entire operation must be focused on MOST EFFICIENT USE OF MATERIAL. In order to achieve this you must be manufacturing boxes AND frames and everything else. So the entire system complements itself.

Most commercial beeks I know buy their equipment. Two reasons for this. One is the labor involved is just too much. They already spend enough time just maintaining existing equipment and their hives. Taking the time to make it plus the expense of the machinery to make and put together boxes would be a full time job. Second, by buying in bulk, for us anyway they are almost cheaper then just buying the wood. Combine that with the time and cost of equipment and it comes out way cheaper to order in bulk.

I agree with Alpha, it is cheaper to buy in bulk, but there are a couple of factors that would make one lean towards making your own.
The first would be to keep a full time crew busy in the off season, if they didn't otherwise have enough to do. The next would be timely availability. This year we ordered wooden ware in January and the stuff just trickled in. After waiting for almost two months for word the semi was on it's way, and with spring almost upon us, we finally settled for lesser amounts with a different supplier than our initial order, due to a huge backlog. Wood ware seems to be in short supply this year. Or maybe they just wanted to sell to the higher paying hobby/sideliners first.
Sheri

I like to buy mine assembles and parrafin dipped, frames glued and stapled. All I need to do is unload the highway truck and later put it on the hives. It's so much easier that way. Besides my supplier does a fine job. I'm not looking for work in the off season, I'm looking for a warm sunny destination. I don't think I would save any money building my own but the extra work and responsibility would further tax my tired body. Come the end of the season I need a break so that next year I can put in my 60 hour weeks. I've come to a point in my life where if I can't make it on 60 hours then to bad, it'll have to wait until next week. Of course there are exceptions like April and May when we make nucs for sale and we go to blueberry pollination and june when we get out of blueberries and go to cranberry pollination. July is tough because we move hives to southern Alberta for canola pollination and on and on.

Come the end of the season I need a break so that next year I can put in my 60 hour weeks. I've come to a point in my life where if I can't make it on 60 hours then to bad, it'll have to wait until next week.
Jean-Marc

I hear ya. We feel the same way. When it was just us we often bought equipment fully assembled. Unfortunately, our employees don't want the winter off, (at least not unpaid ), so we have to keep them working; others are in the same position. Putting together boxes and frames, painting etc is a good way to keep them in groceries. A logical progression is cutting your own components.
Sheri

Thanx for the advice. I'm looking to keep my wood shop and employees busy year round. I might even sell a few boxes to some local hobbiests. They're always looking for equipment in the spring. Just not familiar with the equipment that mass produces boxes and frames and how to even buy/make it. I think the cnc router might be a good place to start. Thanx.

If you start by looking at a good cnc router, you will stop in a hurry. Mine cost over $100K and it is NOT the machine to make bee equipment. As Tom G. Laury said earlier, some work can be done on standard equipment, and some equipment must be custom made, or at least adapted.

I have been a cabinetmaker for 40 years. I build my own equipment. (not frames). With no "value added" considerations, i.e. fancy wood, stain, varnish, hardware, etc., beekeeping woodenware has to have the tightest profit margin in woodworking.

With no "value added" considerations beekeeping woodenware has to have the tightest profit margin in woodworking.

Yeah, but if you need to pay your employees anyway, might as well have them producing something, even if it is at cost, than have them sit around doing little or nothing or worse yet, have them go get a year round job and not be there when ya really need them.
Keeping good labor is one of the big problems with beekeeping ( or any agriculture for that matter). You need them very badly during a particular time of the year, but there is that down time when you don't have much bee work to do, but if you don't pay them they will go find someone else who will. They gotta eat and pay the bills in the off season too.
Sheri

Winter work

Sheri your point is well taken. Assembly and painting type work is necessary and doesn't require too much outlay of $. Airless, nail gun, and so on is not too expensive, well suited for off season. Manufacturing bee supplies economically re quires more input than can be justified in most cases.

cnc routers are expensive but there are some using them. hivebodies.com I believe a hauncher is used by a few manufactures. Alot cheaper. In my opinion I still like the cnc router. You could set it up to do everything instead of having several machines to do the job. That is of course if you had the money for it all.

Now Keith, you know we spend 6 weeks in sunny () California every winter. John keeps telling me that is our vacation. Maybe I should send the hired guys out for this vacation and I should go to Puerto Vallarta instead.
Speaking of drinking again, I do like those margaritas, but they are much better when it is white sand outside, not snow!

Rob, I seem to remember not too long ago there was an ad in the ABJ, someone selling woodenware manufacturing equipment, did you see it?
Sheri

Bee woodshop

Rob to answer your question; jointing, cutoff, ripping&gang ripping, shaping, power feed,can all be accomplished with stuff on the market. A machine shop can build you a single arbor finger jointer and handhold cutter if you want. If 7/8" wide top bars are acceptable ( straight no shoulders ) then you are set up for everything but end bars. That requires a fairly complex machine. Also if you want full width 1 1/16" wide top bars that requires more process. Seems to me it is also important to be near a source of supply for lumber otherwise like we hear so often: " The freight is KILLIN me! "

My thoughts as I daydreamed in the past about making equipment were using an arbor with multiple dado head type saw blades to cut the finger joints. I see the hauncher is similar but uses shaper cutters instead and looks very heavy duty.

When I was younger I built a lot of new equipment. Some I still use. I own my own custom cabinet shop and build cabinet in my off season.
New equipment! I'm a second generation comm. honey producer and I just go in and buy of other comm. guy for pennys on the dollar. Why buy new. The last guy I bought out the honey was still on the bees to be extracted, and I sold all the honey for more then I paid. I've got enough equipment for my boys to produce if they want. The comm beekeeper is a dieing breed. Only wish the younger generation could see what hard work does for the soul.
I like building cabinets over bee equipment, and it pay better too.
Ron